1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an adapter insertable into a fishing rod holder having a tubular socket member with a transverse pin at the lower end thereof and having a shaped internal bore to guide and pilot the butt end of a fishing rod into the central portion of the bottom of the tubular member in order to register a transverse groove in the butt end of the fishing rod with the transverse pin in the bottom of the tubular member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is conventional practice to utilize fishing rod holders to retain fishing rods in an upwardly inclined position to eliminate the necessity of a person continuously holding the rod. Also, fishing boats frequently are equipped with a plurality of fishing rod holders so that the number of fishing rods in use can exceed the number of persons on the boat. Such fishing rod holders conventionally employ a tubular member supported from the boat in any of several known manners with the tubular member including an open upper end receiving the butt end or handle end of the fishing rod therein with gravity retaining the fishing rod in the holder. When deep sea fishing or when fishing for large fish, it is desirable to maintain the fishing reel and guide eyes for the line oriented in a specific relationship to the rod to reduce the incidents of line breakage and the like. In order to maintain this relationship and to prevent the fishing rod from rotating about its longitudinal axis, fishing rods are provided with a pair of perpendicularly aligned grooves across the butt end of the handle and the bottom of the tubular member which defines the socket is provided with a transverse pin which is received in one of the grooves. Prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,159,366, issued Dec. 1, 1964, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,690, issued July 17, 1973, disclose this type of structure in which the tubular socket is provided with a transverse pin at the bottom thereof and the butt end of the fishing rod is provided with a transverse groove or grooves.
In some instances, the size of the tubular member and the butt end of the rod handle is such that when the rod handle is inserted into the socket, the butt end thereof will be off center sufficiently that the transverse groove or grooves in the butt end of the fishing rod will not engage and receive the transverse pin, but rather it will set on top of the pin which enables the fishing rod to rotate about its longitudinal axis in the event a fish takes the bait and exerts tension on the fishing line. While U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,690 locks the fishing rod into the socket, it does not provide any provisions for piloting or centering the butt end of the fishing rod handle in the socket and it also precludes the rapid and free removal of the fishing rod from the socket which is desirable when a fish strikes the line.